There shall continue to be a register of British ships for all registrations of ships in the United Kingdom.

The register shall be maintained by the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen as registrar.

The Secretary of State may designate any person to discharge, on behalf of the registrar, all his functions or such of them as the Secretary of State may direct.

The Secretary of State may give to the registrar directions of a general nature as to the discharge of any of his functions.

The register shall be so constituted as to distinguish, in a separate part, registrations of fishing vessels and may be otherwise divided into parts so as to distinguish between classes or descriptions of ships.

The register shall be maintained in accordance with registration regulations and the private law provisions for registered ships and any directions given by the Secretary of State under subsection (4) above.

The register shall be available for public inspection.